Christa McAuliffe was supposed to be the first American civilian in space — but her story ended in tragedy when her space shuttle exploded in 1986.

On September 22, 1776, a 21-year-old spy for George Washington's Continental Army named Nathan Hale was hanged by the British. His untimely death inspired Washington to establish an espionage ring that ultimately helped America win the war.

In 1872, Elijah McCoy created a tiny device that automatically lubricated steam engines while they were running — and revolutionized the railroad industry in the process.

It's falsely believed that Jayne Mansfield died when she was beheaded in a fatal June 1967 car accident, but the truth is even grislier — and much sadder.

After ascending the throne in 1891, Queen Liliuokalani began working to draft a new constitution and ensure Hawaiin sovereignty — only to be overthrown by U.S. business interests.

Known affectionately as "Evita," Eva Perón worked her way out of poverty to become a voice for Argentina's poor and working class as the wife of President Juan Perón.

In 15th-century Italy, the cunning Caterina Sforza ruthlessly defended her family's fortunes at any cost — and was even accused of plotting to assassinate the pope.

In 1778, Frances Slocum was abducted by the Delaware tribe in Pennsylvania. She later married into the Miami tribe — and decided to never return home.

Although Marina Oswald Porter testified against Lee Harvey Oswald after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, she later asserted that her husband was an innocent scapegoat.

The chainsaw was invented to more safely perform a brutal surgery known as a symphysiotomy on laboring women, during which the birth canal was widened with a hand-cranked, rotating blade.

Mildred Harnack moved to Berlin with her German-born husband in 1929 and joined a Nazi resistance group — and was later sentenced to death by Adolf Hitler himself.